Introduction
The Sennheiser HD 515s came out sometime in the mid aughts and is Sennheiser’s entry-level offering into the HD 500 series of headphones. It’s currently discontinued and has been for a long time, so this review is more for those who are thinking of snagging these on the used/NOS market.
I bought mine from a guy who never opened it and just stored it for what must be at least a decade. The foam of its original cloth earpads has long been disintegrated, so I replaced them with Misodiko earpads. That being said, the headband cushion surprisingly still holds up well.
My version of the HD 515 I’m reviewing is the HD 515 G4ME (ah… good ol’ 1337 5p34k), which just comes in a blue colourway instead of the standard black as far as I can tell.
Build & Comfort
The build quality of these cans is passable for its MSRP of US$109 back in the day, but definitely feels cheap for its price now. For reference, it could be found for about half that price brand new right before it was discontinued, which I feel is a more appropriate proposition. I wouldn’t recommend anyone getting one used for much more than that.
For comfort, since I had to replace the original earpads with third party ones due to degradation, I can’t really comment on the comfort of the originals. For what it’s worth, Misodiko’s earpads are quite comfortable, and I can easily wear them for hours. Clamping force is good for me, but I can image larger heads subject to a bit of tightness with how narrow the design of the headband is.
Sound Quality
The tuning of the HD 515s is generally pleasant but rather veiled, like certain frequencies are missing in the upper mids and treble. Removing the black mesh filter to expose the drivers does seem to open the sound up somewhat, but I don’t have any measurements to show for it.
Its bass doesn’t feel lacking except for the extreme low end in the sub bass region, where that deep punch and thump in music lives. This type of sub-bass roll-off is normal amongst dynamic open-back headphones though, and some even more extreme (as with the case of the AKG K240s), so this is easily overlooked. The mid bass carries the presence of bass drums and its harmonics well enough to bring that natural warmth to any track.
Lower mids are clear and free from any bloat which is great. But as mentioned before, I feel that there’s something missing in the upper mids that give vocals weight and body. Looking at the frequency response graph (pictured left) from Oratory1990’s database seems to corroborate this.
There’s a dip in the 1.8kHz region that’s reminiscent of Hifiman’s characteristic “pinna-dipped” tuning in their planar headphones (Hifiman’s Arya pictured right) that causes this type of sound. One reason why this type of tuning is used is to make voices sound more “distant”, giving listeners a wider sense of soundstage. To me, that does seem to be the case as equalizing the dip out does “fill in” vocals at the cost of then sounding nearer, slightly diminishing its staging.
On that note, with the HD 515’s graph exhibiting a huge 10dB peak in the 3kHz region, you might be thinking that the upper mids are extremely bright or shouty. However, this is one case where graphs don’t always tell the full story. In actuality, the HD 515s don’t come across as piercing or unbearably shrill. I can listen to both male and female vocalists without fatigue.
In fact, the treble to me does lean to the warmer side, where it’s harder to head details without EQ. In this sense, I feel like it’s veiled in its presentation. The shimmer from cymbals is missing, and there’s no sparkle or airiness to vocals in the upper registers. Just surface level detailing.
Technicalities
As mentioned above, with its veiled upper mids and treble, it does lack detail and resolution. It’s not something to be necessarily offended with at its intended price point, but it’s good enough for casual listening. Soundstage is small, extending to the width of my head, while imaging is confined to the 3 dreaded blobs of left, right, and centre. All in all, a pretty mediocre package on the technical front.
Conclusion
For those looking to buy the HD 515s second hand, I hope this short review gives you a bit more on what to expect from these cans. They’re fine for casual listening/gaming but nothing more. It looks budget, feels budget, and sounds budget. Don’t get me wrong, “sounds budget” here by no means is an insult to its tuning; it’s actually decent, but more of the overall listening experience and an attempt at a factual descriptor.
If you can get the Sennheiser HD 515s at a comfortably cheap price in your locale, it might be worth adding to your collection as an entry-level reference or just a decently tuned budget headphone.
